Did I accidentally get all male Barred Rocks?

[Mandacrandypants]

@NatJ Here are two DD chicks. I don't know their age. They were posted on my local FB chicken group, which made me stop and go....uh....hmmm.

I initially steered away from the Diamond Dutchess because there was so little information about them. When I google them very few pictures of actual chickens shows up.

I guess now it really is a mystery!

That doesn't match what I saw on the website, but I agree they look very much like your chicks!

https://www.familyfarmandhome.com/interactive-breed-guide
Here's the page where I found a picture, and the text says Diamond Duchess "has the look of a Barred Rock, but with colored eggs" (neither Barred Rocks nor the picture on that page have crests, but your chicks and the ones from the FB group do appear to have crests starting to grow.)

Definitely odd, but if they grow up to lay blue or green eggs, there's a very good chance that is what they are.

I have 3 DD chicks, 4 weeks old. I believe they are starting to develop crests (and I’m quite excited about it). I actually think there aren’t any real photos of them because they’re a brand new cross-breed. I’ve also seen somewhere where someone was saying they got someone from FFH to confirm they are indeed Barred Rock + Cream Legbar.

 

[Raubkatze]

I have 3 DD chicks, 4 weeks old. I believe they are starting to develop crests (and I’m quite excited about it). I actually think there aren’t any real photos of them because they’re a brand new cross-breed. I’ve also seen somewhere where someone was saying they got someone from FFH to confirm they are indeed Barred Rock + Cream Legbar.

I have 3 DD chicks, 4 weeks old. I believe they are starting to develop crests (and I’m quite excited about it). I actually think there aren’t any real photos of them because they’re a brand new cross-breed. I’ve also seen somewhere where someone was saying they got someone from FFH to confirm they are indeed Barred Rock + Cream Legbar.

I have 3 DD chicks, 4 weeks old. I believe they are starting to develop crests (and I’m quite excited about it). I actually think there aren’t any real photos of them because they’re a brand new cross-breed. I’ve also seen somewhere where someone was saying they got someone from FFH to confirm they are indeed Barred Rock + Cream Legbar.

I will be interested to see how barred the DDs are as they grow up. Last night I found out about the California Grey, which is a cross of Barred Rock and White Leghorn, but they seem much more barred than mine are.

My one is almost completely grey, my other two are mostly black with only the slightest hints of white at the tips of their feathers.

 

[NatJ]

I just learned last night that there is a breed called the California Grey that is a cross of Barred Rock and White Leghorn.

I think California Grey was begun with that cross but was then developed into a true-breeding population. So any California Grey you get now would be many generations away from the initial cross.

I’ve also seen somewhere where someone was saying they got someone from FFH to confirm they are indeed Barred Rock + Cream Legbar.

So this would probably be a direct first-generation cross, with one parent being the Barred Rock and the other being the Cream Legbar.

 

[Raubkatze]

I think California Grey was begun with that cross but was then developed into a true-breeding population. So any California Grey you get now would be many generations away from the initial cross.


So this would probably be a direct first-generation cross, with one parent being the Barred Rock and the other being the Cream Legbar.

I figured California Grey didn’t seem quite right either.

 

[NatJ]

I figured California Grey didn’t seem quite right either.

For your particular chicks, they cannot be California Grey because yours have those crests on the head and California Greys do not.

Crests have to come from a parent with a crest. Crested Cream Legbars have crests. When people say "Legbar," that's usually what they mean. Mixes with any other crested breed are much less common, and usually have some other traits that make them visually different (different comb type, sometimes extra toes or feathered feet or muff/beard on the face, etc.)

 

[Raubkatze]

Tuna and four of his five ladies!

They all made it outside today. I think they are a bit overwhelmed, poor dears. Going to give them a couple hours out then snug them into their coop.

 

[Raubkatze]

9 weeks old!

Nugget in front and Camilla behind, two of my Australorp ladies

Tuna, the rooster.

Marmalade is becoming significantly greyer than the other two mystery birds.

The tail on Toast reminds me a bit of a bantam I use to have when I first had chickens 10+ years ago.

 

[Raubkatze]

10 weeks today! I let them have a short adventure out of their run this morning while I hosed down the pavers and coop.